DRIVESCOREOur auto expert reviewers have awarded this score, after thoroughly testing this car.

Improved interior

New dual clutch feels better

Miles of cabin space

ESC too eager

Not made in right-hand drive

Australia won't see this model

VALUE

8.0

SAFETY

6.0

COMFORT

7.5

PERFORMANCE

6.0

RESALE

4.0

SERVICING

7.0

SPACE

7.5

HANDLING

5.0

ECONOMY

7.0

CONNECTIVITY

6.0

OVERALL

6.5

Haval is doing something right.

At least that is the case in China, where it’s held the title of best selling SUV brand for the past 15 years. It sent 800,000 units into China’s already congested road network last year and managed to conquer a milestone not many other brands can put next to its name: its five-millionth customer.

When you compare those sales to the Australian market, where a total of 633 left dealership doors last year, the brand has still has plenty of work to do down under. In the first quarter of 2019, Haval has already sold 218 SUVs, showing promising the signs the name is slowly gaining traction.

And now the Chinese manufacturer hopes a five-year marketing plan will send it even further up the shopping lists of potential Aussie SUV buyers, with plans to launch a number of new models and fresh advertising campaigns in coming years.

A new iteration of the brand’s H6 is on the way — albeit not for another two years — and a recent trip to Haval’s proving ground in Baoding, China provided a good opportunity to test the brand’s current Chinese line-up, which includes the H6 in second-generation form.

Although that’s not the model we’ll get here, we came away confident the brand has come a long way since the first-gen H6 that graced our shores in 2017, giving us hope for a better third-gen when it finally arrives.

How many models can we expect in Australia?

Haval has only just launched its second-generation H6 in China and it’s built strictly in left-hand drive configuration. So, how long’s a piece of string?

However, from what we were told by Haval Australia at the H6’s recent overseas launch, Australia is expected to get (what will be by then) the third-generation H6 built on an entirely new platform with a line-up that largely mirrors what it offers now with Premium and Lux variants. There is potential for a high-end addition based on the luxury-focused Wey VV7 that is sold in China and also a plug-in hybrid option, but a spokesperson for the brand says it’s still too early to tell.

What do you get for your money?

The H6 we drove at the Chinese proving ground was the Urban variant, which sits just above the base Comfort Edition spec available in China, and is already kitted-out better than the top-spec Lux we get it Oz.

Similar to the Lux, our H6 Urban test car included keyless entry with push-button start, cruise control and an electronic handbrake as standard, as well as 18-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof and leather appointed seats.

But the Chinese Urban gets a larger 9.0-inch touchscreen with smartphone connectivity similar (but not the same) to the Apply CarPlay and Android Auto we’re used to here, as well as a USB socket and Bluetooth.

The new infotainment unit also does away with the sub-par touchscreen yester-year’s H6 was dumped with — no longer dispersing a rainbow of colour with every touch. However, it’s still slow to respond to inputs.

How safe is the Haval H6 ?

The third-gen should come fitted with more safety gear than the current H6. So expect equipment like autonomous emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, brake assist, front and rear parking sensors, hill descent control, reverse camera and (hopefully) more in our 2021 models.

What's under the bonnet?

The H6 variants we get in Australia are offered exclusively with Haval’s 2.0-litre turbo-four and hooked up to a Getrag-sourced six-speed dual clutch automatic. That drivetrain manages to produce a respectable 145kW and 315Nm.

But there’s a new kid on the block (at least for China), and it’s the locally developed 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder capable of 124kW of power and 285Nm of torque. It’s yet to be available in any Haval’s we get here but is promised to be available on Aussie models eventually.

Although the smaller donk is slightly down on power, the new seven-speed dual clutch (which has been around since 2016 in China, but is also yet to feature on any Aussie cars) was developed by Great Wall Motors (alongside Getrag) and is an improvement on the six-speed ‘box.

It shifts smoother and quicker than before, but it up-shifts too early in the rev-range, making the engine feel even more underpowered. It also produces some clunking noises as it moves through the higher gears, but nothing unbearable.

CAR OF THE WEEK

What's it like inside?

One thing you can’t fault a Haval on is cabin space — in every model. There’s miles of headroom and legroom for front and back seat passengers, which steals your attention from the minor quality issues that pop up. One such flaw in our test car was a 3D-printed Haval logo peeling off each rear seat headrest.

Aside from that, the seats are comfortable and the imitation brown leather is soft and supple, with the driver’s seat getting electric adjustments that even include lumbar support — bless.

The interior is a nice place to be and the new H6 feels more upmarket than before. However, one more complaint comes when someone is designated the rear middle seat, where the seatbelt sits inconveniently where your right buttock should comfortably rest — instead you get jabbed and stabbed before eventually sliding forward into further discomfort.

What's it like to drive?

Mastering a left-hand drive vehicle can take some getting some used to. Add wrestling 1.6 tonnes of SUV through a tight and twisty witches-hat course set up by ambitious Chinese engineers and you’ve got a real challenge. Especially when said engineers are overly confident with the agility and handling prowess of their vehicles.

Still, with all confidence in the Middle Kingdom, its machinery, and a car full of Aussie journalists, we set off — but in a rather underwhelming fashion.

Our test car, sporting the new 1.5-litre wasn’t particularly strong from a stand still, but managed to gain momentum with every upshift as we pressed on.

Slowing the car enough for the first set of zig-zags was easy, and the H6 produced the amount of body roll and tyre squealing in protest you’d expect of a hefty SUV.

The U-turn at the end of the course is where the H6 felt most unsettled. The extra body roll from cornering a little faster was expected, yet tolerable, but the H6’s electronic stability control (ESC) kicked in almost immediately after initial turn-in, and interrupted the flow of driving until the car completely straightened up again, which finally allowed acceleration.

The run back to the start line included an emergency braking exercise from around 80km/h to a complete stop. ABS kicked in quickly, but the SUV still felt unsettled and erratic and admittedly took longer to stop than expected.

Verdict

While a brief five minutes behind the wheel is nowhere near enough time to get a proper feel for the new H6 (that we won’t be getting in Australia anyway), it does give us an indication as the where the brand is headed.

A well-presented H6 that’s a huge step ahead of what we’ve seen so far in Australia is a good start, and Haval can only learn from the past.

It’s eager to impress potential buyers and the brand is working hard across its eight Chinese factories to build the brand on a global scale.

Pumping out roughly 2200 vehicles per day (in just one of its factories) is all well and good, but at the end of the day, it’s quality over quantity. And only time will tell if Haval can keep up with customer demands.

Ali is a Motoring Reporter at Drive.com.au. She completed her Journalism degree in 2018 and has a background in the automotive industry.
Ali also has a passion for racing that started in go-karts from an young age, progressing into car racing in 2016…

4 COMMENTS

SHARE YOUR VOICE

WillyFuiFui — 16 Apr 2019 16:20

I read a business article while back about Geely's 2 star rating for their small sedan. They can redesign, retool to make a safer 5 star rating within 4 ...
VIEW ALL